


Skype Call

by awgaskarth0805



Category: All Time Low (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Emotional Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-28
Updated: 2020-10-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:08:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27240970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/awgaskarth0805/pseuds/awgaskarth0805
Summary: Alex feels overwhelmed by his semester, but luckily Jack is there to help him get through it
Kudos: 1





	Skype Call

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by one of the best friendships I've ever been lucky enough to have! :)

“Shit, it’s already close to eight, I really need to get back to my room and get some work done,” Alex said, putting down his fork as he looked at the time on his phone.  
“No problem, I have to go, too. I’m going to the Green Day concert tonight with my girlfriend, and it starts in about an hour,” Alex’s friend replied, almost sounding like he was bragging.  
“Cool, that’s going to be so fun for you guys! Wait, I just realized, weren’t we talking about going to that show together?”   
“Well, yeah, but you know how my girlfriend stayed in town for school this semester. I would’ve asked you, but I didn’t think you’d mind that much about not going,”  
“Oh okay, makes sense, I guess. Well, you guys have fun, I’ll see you around,”   
Alex faked a smile as he stood up from his chair in the dining hall and gathered his things. After saying one more final goodbye, Alex took his plate over to the belt that took the dishes into the kitchen, then made his way outside.   
As he started to walk back to his dorm, Alex pulled out his phone and headphones, quicky going to his music library and putting on a playlist he’d made, so he could listen to something other than the thoughts that always rushed around in his head. The walk to his dorm wasn’t that long, but it was a late October night with a bit of a drizzle, which ended up making the walk feel miserable.   
By the time Alex had finally reached his dorm, he was wet and cold, so he quickly went inside, and rode the elevator up to his floor. Once he got to his door, he tried to pull out the key to his room, but his cold hands made this harder than usual. Eventually, he pulled out his key and unlocked the door, setting his backpack by his desk once he’d walked in.   
Alex knew he had quite a bit of homework in front of him, but he decided to take a quick shower first, so he could warm up a bit, and so he could push off his work for just a little bit longer. He took a fast shower, not wanting to waste too much time, then walked over to his desk, where his backpack and phone were waiting for him.   
Letting out a sigh, Alex took a seat and started to pull his laptop out of his backpack, as his phone made a vibration. He was certain that it wasn’t a text from his girlfriend, since she was out with friends that night, so Alex was very curious as to what the notification was. Once his laptop was starting to turn on, Alex opened up his phone, and went to his messages.  
Jack: Hey man, I’ve got a question.  
Alex felt his stomach twist some from reading the message but rolled his eyes at it. Jack was one of his best friends, so he knew that his question wouldn’t be anything bad, but his anxious brain had obviously already thought of the worst-case scenario possible, as per usual.   
Alex: Hey, Jack, what’s your question?  
Jack: I know you’re probably busy, but do you want to Skype for a bit? It’s been a while since we last did that.  
Alex pulled his planner out of his backpack and flipped it open to the current date. He had a fairly high number of assignments written down that he had to at least start on, which started to make him feel overwhelmed. He knew that he should probably say no to his friend, but he really didn’t want to do any of the work he had to do, since they were all big papers that would require a lot of dedication and focus. Besides, he’d not been feeling like himself mentally lately, so talking with his friend for a bit sounded like a great idea.  
Alex: I do have a decent amount of shit to get done, but it can all wait. Should I call you, or do you want to call me?  
Jack: I’ll call you, just give me a few minutes.  
Alex smiled to himself, he really loved talking with Jack whenever he could, especially when school and life in general started to get super stressful. Jack was one of the only people who would really listen, genuinely care, and make Alex slowly start to feel sane again they texted fairly often, but they were both full time students, so getting to video chat was rare during the semester.   
Alex sometimes wished that he’d gone to college in the same city as Jack, because in his mind, everything would’ve have been perfect if they did. The only good thing about not going to college together, was that it made their texting and occasional video chatting feel extra special.   
Just a few minutes later, Alex was ripped from his thoughts when his computer started to ring, Jack’s Skype profile popping up on his screen. Alex clicked the accept button and waited as his computer officially connected him to the call. Seconds later, Jack’s face appeared on the screen, and they smiled at each other.   
“Hey Jack!” Alex exclaimed.  
“Hey, Alex, how’re you doing, man?” Jack asked in reply.  
“As good as I can be, I guess,”  
“What do you mean b that? Is everything okay?”  
“Yeah, there’s just some stupid little shit, I guess. My classes are all a lot right now. I think it’s because we’re getting closer to the end of the semester, but the workload has, like, doubled lately,”   
“I totally get that. It actually felt like my workload was getting a bit lighter, but the reality is that I’m just slowly giving up and not putting in the effort that I was earlier in the semester,” Jack replied, making them both laugh some.   
“I’m sort of starting to get there, too. I’m still really trying to focus and produce the quality of work that I know I can, but doing that for seventeen credit hours can be hard to do sometimes,”  
“I bet, but I know you’ve got this, man. oh, I meant to ask, how’re things going with that one friend who you’ve said has been a bit of an asshole lately?”  
“Oh yeah, that. Another reason why life has been a lot lately. I was actually with him not too long ago at dinner, and as I was getting ready to leave, he said he was going to the Green Day concert that’s tonight with his girlfriend. The two of us had talked about going to that together literally just a couple months ago, and he ended up bailing. It shouldn’t bother me so much, but it still does. His girlfriend is at a different college than us, the one my girlfriend is at, actually. She was supposed to go to a school in a different city in the state, but changed her mind last minute, so my friend has spent all of his time with her. I’m happy for him that he doesn’t have to do long distance, but he’s been bailing a lot lately,” Alex explained, sounding a bit hurt.   
“Shit, that really blows, man. why don’t you just hang out with your girlfriend more often instead of trying to make plans with him?”  
“I’d love to, but we both have extremely different school schedules, and she has a job, so the days that we see each other are really all we can do for right now. That’s why I wish my one friend would be able to hang out more,”  
“Well, it sounds like he’s kind of a dick, so I don’t really think that’s much of a loss for you,” Jack pointed out.  
“I see what you’re saying, but he’s really my only close friend here. I have other friends, but they’re all out of sate for school, just like you. I’ve certainly been talking with them more often lately, but they all have shit keeping them busy, too. Aside from my girlfriend, I easily talk with you the most out of anyone,”  
“I see. Well, you know I’m always here for you,”  
“I appreciate that. On top of the school work, and my friend slowly turning into a piece of shit, I’ve been looking into graduate programs, and have had to seriously think about my future, which has been stressful, too,” Alex continued, reading the note he’d left himself in his planner, saying to research more schools.   
“Yeah, thinking about the future is pretty much the most stressful thing ever,”   
“I know that it’s all going to work out, but it’s all just so daunting to think about,”  
“I get that, but I promise you’re going to be just fine, man,”  
Instead of replying, Alex started to think about their call so far; all he’d done was complain about his problems to Jack, and he highly doubted that Jack had wanted to call him to deal with all of that. Jack quickly noticed a weird look on Alex’s face.  
“Are you alright, man?”  
“Um, yeah, I just feel like all I’ve done since we started this call is bitch about my problems to you. I also feel like I do that a lot, so sorry,” Alex awkwardly replied, looking into the camera.   
“Hey, don’t worry, I totally understand how it feels to think you’re being annoying when you’re really not I’ve said this before and I’ll say it as many times as I need to, you can always rant about whatever, whenever,”  
Alex smiled to himself at the reassurance.  
“I really do apricate that, and the same goes for you, too. I’ve kind of realized that out of all of my friends, I prefer to talk with you about this kind of stuff. You just get it, and give the best advice,”  
“I feel the same way, man,”   
“I wish we went to college in the same city, at least. I just feel like things would be so much easier, and so much better, if you were actually here. Like, I wouldn’t have to stay friends with my one friend I mentioned earlier, I’d have someone to hang out with when my girlfriend is at work, and I just feel like it’d be so awesome,”   
“I wish we did, too. I don’t have a bunch of close friends at my school, either. At least it’ll make when we do actually get to see each other in person make it feel that much more special,”   
“That’s true, there is that. Hey, I really hate to end this call like this, but I really have to finish up some school shit that I don’t want to do, and I know that the longer I push it off, the less likely it is that I’ll actually do it tonight,” Alex said, looking at the time on his laptop.   
“No problem, good luck with your assignments. We’ll talk again soon,”  
“For sure. Have a good rest of your night, Jack,”  
“You too, Alex,”  
Alex pressed the button to end the call, then pulled out his psychology notebook to start on his homework. As he flipped to a blank page and pulled up the assignment on his computer, he thought about the conversation he’d just had with Jack. He quickly realized he wasn’t going to get anything done until he sent Jack a quick text, so he grabbed his phone, and went to his conversation with his friend.  
Alex: I just wanted to say that I’m really glad that we got to talk for a bit earlier, it really meant a lot to me. This semester has been really stressful, partly from my course load, and because of the strained relationship with my only close friend on campus. I know I go on about this stuff a lot with you, and that it probably gets a bit annoying, but you listening and actually caring really means a lot to me, so thank you, I’m so glad we’re friends.  
As Alex hit send, he felt his body tense up a bit. Sending messages like this was very common for Alex, but being that vulnerable still made him feel nervous sometimes. On top of that, he sent things like this to Jack fairly often, and his biggest fears were that it would get annoying, or that Jack would think it was insincere, since Alex said these things so frequently.   
Just a few minutes later, Alex felt his phone vibrate.  
Jack: No worries, man, I don’t mind at all. Besides, you’ve helped me out in a lot of ways, too. I’m always here, and everything is going to be okay. Now, get your work done! :))   
Alex smiled to himself as he put his phone back on his desk so he could start on his work. Life had certainly thrown him a lot of curveballs lately, which made feeling genuinely okay feel impossible sometimes. While things could be hard, Alex knew that Jack was always going to be there for him, and that made getting through the rough patches just a little bit easier.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, sorry I haven't posted in a while, school has been a bit hectic lately! I only have 4 more weeks left in the semester, so I'm hoping to post more over the holidays! Please send in requests if you have them! Thank you all so much for reading, it really does mean the world. Lots of love, Liv.


End file.
